What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?
by Samantha20
Summary: Buffy's mom has cancer. How does she deal? First of ??
1. What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?

What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?  
Everything was silent.  
It made her uneasy, all that silence.  
She began tapping, the sole of her boot made a clicking sound on the tiled  
floor.  
This was taking too long, too long.  
Buffy looked over at her mother. She looked so calm, so relaxed.  
Joyce smiled reassuringly at her daughter. Her smile, though tired, said it  
all. 'Everything's going to be all right, everything's going to be okay,  
you'll see.'  
Buffy smiled back at her mother.  
As she did so she said a silent prayer.  
And she waited.  
Long, aching minutes passed before the doctor entered the room.  
He was silent, his face, an unreadable mask.  
Buffy reached out and took her mother's hand. Held on tight.  
The doctor cleared his throat. "Mrs. Summers? We have your test results  
back." he paused for a second. "Mrs. Summers I'm sorry to have to tell you  
this, but I'm afraid that the results came back positive. You have  
lymphatic cancer, and I'm sorry to say that it is quite advanced."  
Buffy's heart plummeted to the floor. She wasn't even hearing what the  
doctor was saying anymore.  
She looked over at her mother, who was still sitting up. Still perfectly  
composed.  
"Thank you, doctor." was all she said.  
After the doctor was gone, the silence crept back.  
Joyce looked over at her daughter. "Buffy, sweetie go home. Get some sleep.  
You have school tomorrow, and I need to rest."  
"I love you, mom." Buffy answered, as she leaned over to kiss her mother  
good night.  
As she left the room, closed the door, and walked out into the hallway she  
bit her lip.  
Numbly she walked down the hallway, until she couldn't fight it anymore.  
She leaned against a wall, not knowing what to do, what to think, or how to  
feel.  
Slowly tears dribbled down her cheeks.  
Suddenly Angel appeared at her side. He pulled her gently into his arms,  
and let her bury her face in his shirt.  
He held her like that for a long minute.  
"Cancer." she choked out, "My mom has cancer."  
Gently he stroked her hair. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what to say to make  
it better, Buffy."  
Her voice was harsh, coming in between ragged sobs. "How can I fight this  
Angel? What if she dies?"  
"I know it's hard." he said to her, "But you can't fight this for her. You  
have to fight with her."  
She closed her eyes for a long minute, and leaned into his chest. "I'll die  
if she dies."  
Angel said nothing, he didn't even know what to say.  
He just held her as she cried, sobbing as though heart was breaking. 


	2. Sleep Well My Love

Surprise!!! Betcha didn't know WBOTBH had a sequel (and more coming I just  
have to write them)  
Thanks for reviewing people!!!!!  
  
Everything was bright white. It hurt her eyes, still wet from crying. She  
turned and buried her face in his shirt. He wrapped his arms around her and  
held her tight.  
They stayed there like that for a long minute.  
Carefully Angel pulled away from her, "Come on, I'll take you home."  
She looked up at him, her eyes like those of a frightened child and nodded.  
**********  
She remembered nothing of the walk home, her memories of him unlocking her  
front door, and ushering her inside were dim.  
Carefully he escorted her up the stairs to her room, guiding her down onto  
her bed.  
Silently he drew her boots off, placing them side by side next to her bed.  
He brushed her hair off her face. "I'm gonna go downstairs and get you some  
warm milk. Why don't you put on your pajamas and get into bed." He said to  
her.  
Silently, numbly she wriggled out of her clothes and into her favourite  
pajamas, satin ones with a swirly pattern on them, like her mom's favourite  
painting, Starry Night.  
She crawled into bed, physically and emotionally drained. Her mother had  
cancer. Cancer. And Buffy finally had to face something that she couldn't  
fight.  
Angel re-entered her room carefully carrying a ceramic mug, which he  
pressed into her hands.  
"Drink it, it'll help." He told her. She didn't ask him what it would help.  
Once finished she placed the empty mug on her dresser and curled down into  
her bed. Angel reached out and pulled the covers up around her. "Is there  
anything else I can do?"  
She reached out her hand and captured one of his, pulling him down onto the  
bed with her. "Tell me a story?"  
He curled up next to her. "What kind of story?"  
"What happened in 1874?" she asked him, her eyes still red from crying.  
"Why 1874?"  
"I don't know." She answered him.  
"In 1874 I was in Florence. It was beautiful in the Spring. Artists would  
come from all over Italy to paint. They'd paint anything. Flowers, trees,  
children, the Duomo, the Piazzas, everything.  
Darla convinced one artist paint her portrait. His name was Alonzo Caprici  
and he was an excellent artist. Even though it took him almost a year to  
finish the painting Darla loved it.  
She had herself painted in a pink dress, standing in brilliant sunshine, I  
guess it was her idea of a joke. She always liked irony. Darla loved  
paintings. She said that they showed her more of the world, that they  
showed her what she couldn't see for herself.  
Once we left Florence we joined up with Spike and Drusilla, and several  
other vampires in Vienna. We found that once we got there we liked it, so  
we kicked the other Alpha vamps out and made Vienna our home base.  
Katherine and Anthony stayed with us for a while, but in a few months they  
had drifted off and we heard rumors that they were in Belgrade. Once Penn  
left we were all in kind of a rut. Just stuck in Vienna, we'd already seen  
much of the world and really there was very little left for us to do. So  
when Drusilla decided that she wanted to go to Spain we went.  
All she wanted to do was go and watch the bull fights. Blood and gore, that  
was our Drusilla." he smiled lost in the memory.  
"We stayed in Spain, drifting between Madrid and Barcelona for about a year  
and a half. After that Darla and I got into an argument. She wanted to go  
to India, I wanted to go to Sophia. In the end we all parted company, Spike  
and Drusilla leaving for Turkey. Dru said something about the Ottoman  
calling her.  
We had big plans to meet up in Prague. I never made it there. Spike and Dru  
did, they were attacked by a mob there, but I never showed and neither did  
Darla.  
We met up later in Romania where I was cursed. After that I left them and  
didn't see them again for a few years. Until I got lonely. Even though I  
had my soul I still missed Darla and Dru, even Spike. I joined up with them  
again for a while during the Boxer Rebellion, but things weren't the same.  
When I left them that time I left them for good.  
I knew that my time with them was over, and a part of me was glad I guess.  
I just roamed for years after that trying to find somewhere that I  
belonged. A hundred years and I just stayed alone. Until Whistler found me  
and brought me to you." Angel smiled remembering it, remembering what it  
was like to see her so happy. What it was like to see her in the sunlight.  
He looked down at her now he'd almost forgotten how tiny she was, how  
fragile she was.  
Her eyes were still wide open, but he could see that she was tired. He  
tucked the covers in around her as she found her voice. 'What if something  
goes wrong? What if she can't fight it? What if she d-...." Her voice  
trailed off.  
"Don't worry anymore. Sleep. I'll do your worrying for you tonight." He  
could see fear in her eyes.  
"You won't leave?" she asked in a small voice  
"I'll stay here." he promised.  
"All night?"  
"All night." Carefully he tucked the covers around her and watched her  
close her eyes.  
She fell asleep so quickly she barely heard his last words, spoken as he  
leaned over to kiss her forehead. "Sleep well my love." 


End file.
